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State-owned utilities firm Saudi Electricity Co (SEC) (Aa3/A/A+ by Moody's/S&P/Fitch), has mandated banks to arrange a series of fixed income investor calls commencing today for a Regulation S senior unsecured USD-denominated dual-tranche sukuk offering
The sukuk offering (of which one tranche may be in green format) will consist of 5-year and 10-year tranches and will follow subject to market conditions.
The certificates will be issued under the Saudi Electricity Sukuk Programme Company’s Trust Certificate Issuance Programme, which is expected to be rated Aa3 by Moody's and A+ by Fitch.
HSBC and Standard Chartered Bank are acting joint global coordinators while Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, First Abu Dhabi Bank, Mizuho, MUFG, SMBC and IMI-Intesa Sanpaolo are active bookrunners. In addition, Alistithmar Capital, BofA Securities, ICBC International Securities Limited, BNP Paribas, Emirates NBD Capital, NATIXIS, Dubai Islamic Bank PJSC, Bank of China and SNB Capital have been appointed as passive bookrunners. MUFG and SMBC are also acting as joint green structuring agents.
SEC, which is 75% owned by the sovereign wealth fund, Public Investment Fund, is the top producer of electricity in Saudi Arabia and has a monopoly on the transmission and distribution in the kingdom. It has a net debt to EBITDA ratio of 3.1x while 45% of debt outstanding have maturity stretching past 2028.
For nine-month 2024, it had a capex of SAR 39.7 billion as it scaled up energy investments. SEC plans to grow the share of renewables in the energy mix to 50% by 2030.
In December SEC signed a $3.6 billion internationally syndicated credit facility with a five-year maturity with two one-year extension options.
(Reporting by Brinda Darasha; editing by Seban Scaria)
